Parties brace for election results today

The crack of dawn on Sunday is the beginning of a D-Day for political parties, which will get the verdict of people in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and New Delhi as poll authorities are scheduled to count the votes in the elections that concluded on Wednesday.

The Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes which will begin at 8 am at 129 counting centres spread across three states and Delhi.

The result of the Assembly elections in Mizoram will be known on Monday, when the votes are counted in Aizawl.

A clean sweep by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as predicted by the exit polls, could put a stamp of approval on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's prime ministerial candidature and send the Congress back to the strategy rooms to re-work its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi.

Contrasting fortunes

The exit polls have predicted massive losses for the Congress in all the three states and Delhi with the BJP gaining upper hand in Rajasthan and national capital while retaining Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The four states and Delhi saw heavy turnout of voters with records re-written in Delhi and Mizoram, which witnessed over 65 per cent and 81 per cent polling, respectively.

Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan saw over 70 per cent turnout.

However, despite the exit poll findings, the Congress is confident of ousting the 10-year-old Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh and putting up a tough fight in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal has queered the pitch in Delhi where it is expected to cut into the traditional vote base of the BJP and the Congress, leading to a widely expected hung verdict on the 70-member Assembly.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, seeking a fourth term in Delhi, is perhaps facing the toughest political battle of her life as some exit polls have shown her losing her New Delhi Assembly seat.Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, known for his "guy next door" image, is pitted against the Gwalior royal Jyotiraditya Scindia. Scindia's aunt Vasundhara Raje is the BJP candidate for the chief minister's post in neighbouring Rajasthan.

Madhya Pradesh has a 230-member Assembly and the BJP won 143 seats in 2008 elections. In Chhattisgarh, the BJP had scored an outright win in 2008, winning 50 seats in the 90-member Assembly.